Junior Luke Goss was only 13 years old when he was startled awake by a dream at 4 a.m. 

In the dream, the world spun around him while he walked with no purpose. What happened next remains so vivid in Goss’s mind four years later. Goss watched himself die and then saw Jesus reach out his hands to him. 

The memory of it still makes Goss emotional. 

“I was one of those Reddit atheists who were like, ‘Sky Daddy’s not real,’” Goss said. “It’s not possible.”

The dream triggered an unlikely four-year journey. 

Goss was raised in what he calls a non-practicing Christian family. His maternal grandmother Sandra Tyson grew up Southern Baptist, but she raised her children non-denominational.

“Luke’s mom and dad didn’t take them to church, so he really wasn’t taught anything,” Tyson said. “He was kind of a blank slate.”

Research begins

That changed after the dream. Goss sought as much information as he could about religion. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t delusional. Trying to understand his dream, Goss studied everything he could about Jesus. He wanted to join the most “accurate” religion he could find. He looked at Shintoism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam and branches of Christianity. 

Goss then sought a meeting with Father Zachary Muldrow, a former priest at St. Martha Catholic Church in nearby Porter. 

Muldrow “was the first person to set my questions in stone and have them actually answered by a real official instead of going online and getting lied to,” Goss said. “From then on, I kept talking to Zachary. He was a huge inspiration.”

After months of countless conversations and research, Goss decided Roman Catholicism checked off the necessary boxes. He started attending masses. 

Choosing Catholicism

“When I found out that he was going to a Catholic church, I decided I wanted to go with him,” Tyson said. “I didn’t want him going alone. I wanted him to have somebody with him.”

Attending church together strengthened the pair’s bond. It became more than just Sunday mass. They started attending various daily masses. 

Quickly into his faith journey, just attending mass was not enough. Goss wanted to be a baptized and confirmed member of the Catholic faith. He joined the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults, the starting point for adults considering joining the church. 

But finding clarity in religion didn’t end with just the classes. He started asking his longtime friend Ivan Rodriguez, a senior at Kingwood Park, questions. The two met in middle school, and Rodriguez became a trusted friend for Goss.

“We both have goals. We both have struggles, and us sharing the same faith in Jesus Christ helps so much,” Rodriguez said. 

Exploring priesthood

After four months in OCIA, Goss felt God calling him to do more. He knew church was his calling, and he wanted to be a priest. Goss partially credited Rodriguez and their long conversations on faith with helping guide his decision. 

“It was very humbling,” Rodriguez said. “I never thought someone like me, ‘cause I’m mostly socially anxious, could really make a huge difference in someone’s life. It’s … really incredible.”

As Goss shared his decision to become a priest with those close to him, the idea was not embraced by everyone initially. 

“My mom was actually against it,” Goss said. “I remember her personally telling me, ‘I hope you don’t become one of those priest men.’ … I was pretty much her only hope for a grandchild.”

His grandmother’s support and presence never wavered, however. She became more active in the Catholic church. 

“Catholicism started making more sense to me too,” Tyson said. “One day, he asked me after I’d been attending with him for about four months, ‘Nana, what would you think about going through OCIA?’”

Tyson had already considered joining the program, but she wanted Goss’s opinion. When she asked if he would like her to join, Goss said yes without hesitation. She quickly enrolled in OCIA. 

Goss officially joins church

In April 2025, it was time for Goss to get baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church. Tyson worried she might miss the big day. She was in a lot of pain and confined to a wheelchair after breaking one ankle and spraining the other just days before his baptism.

Despite the pain, she told herself, “I am not missing this. I am going to be there.”

At the ceremony, it wasn’t just Goss and Tyson like usual. Rodriguez joined them along with Goss’ entire family, who came around to his journey in Catholicism after seeing his commitment.

Happy tears streamed down Tyson’s face as she watched. 

“Seeing the growth between those two years and just being able to watch him kind of achieve something he had worked really hard towards, it was really incredible,” Tyson said. “It’s just a feeling that kind of takes over your whole body and just this incredible warmth and lightness at the same time.”

Confirmation symbolized his full commitment to the Catholic Church and was just the start of his journey. 

Goss started a post-church brunch tradition with his family. His father returned to attending his own church regularly, and other family members started to join Goss and Tyson at St. Martha’s occasionally. 

Grandmother becomes Catholic

Last December, Goss was in the pews when Tyson completed her OCIA journey and was confirmed in the Catholic Church. Just as she had supported him on his confirmation, Goss sat as close as possible to his grandma.

“The evening of the ceremony, that person who’s your sponsor sits next to you,” Tyson said.  “Luke was right next to (my sponsor). He wasn’t going to get any further from me than sitting right on the other side of her. 
He was with me every step of the way.”

The pair’s bond has always been strong, but both agree that faith has brought them to their strongest point. They’ve shared so many moments together because of it.

Last year, Goss convinced Tyson to sign up with him for a pilgrimage to Houston’s Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, which he’d read about in the weekly church bulletin. When the two showed up, they realized it was a pilgrimage for senior citizens, and Goss did not qualify. However, with Tyson still in a boot from her ankle injury, they convinced the group to let Goss attend as her “caregiver.” He became everyone’s helper.

“Everybody at the bus just loved him,” Tyson said. “They just were loving on him like crazy, and he was helping everybody. It was really special.”

Goss, Tyson share special connection

Tyson said she is grateful for each day that she has been alive to share this journey with him. Her grandson just wants their journey together to continue.

“I want you to live forever,” Goss told his grandmother recently, “but you’ve got to live at least eight years after I go to seminary.” 

Tyson knows exactly why he has that timetable. That is how long it will take Goss to become a priest, and he wants to be the one to give his grandmother her last rites when she dies. 

Tyson knows he is going to be okay. His future and goals bring her joy every time she thinks about them.

“I think he’s going to find a life worth living, a happy life, a satisfying life,” Tyson said. “I think he’s going down the right path. I wouldn’t have ever thought of it myself. But as I have been sitting here watching God do all these things in his life, it’s just perfect. It’s amazing.”